A group of nature enthusiasts wants a grassy lot along the Rock River in Janesville’s Fourth Ward preserved permanently as park space.
The parcel — 2 acres at 101 Rockport Road — was being eyed for apartments but is now proposed to instead be designated as city park space.
Dean Paynter is a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and a longtime steward of nature trails in Janesville.
He has signed onto a resolution alongside city Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee member Steve Knox that would designate and develop the 2-acre, city-owned lot at 101 Rockport Road as permanent city park space.
Kenosha developer Bear Development had been proposing 78 apartment and condo units at the site until recently. City of Janesville economic development officials say Bear walked away from the riverfront parcel along Rockport because it apparently was not financially feasible to build there.
Paynter’s resolution gets introduced to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee on Tuesday.
Paynter tells Big Radio that he brought the proposal because of many neighbors who spoke out at public meetings about Bear’s now-abandoned plan. Some of those neighbors at the time said they wanted the Rockport Road site to be preserved as city park space — not earmarked for multifamily housing.
Paynter points out the grassy lot off Rockport already has a bike trail and an adjacent bridge that ties it to the Ice Age and Peace trails — two major, local nature trails.
For years, people have used the Rockport space for recreation and as an observation site for eagles, pelicans and other wildlife.
He says it would not take many resources for the city to designate it as park space, set in a couple of park benches, and trim some trees to improve the view of eagles along the river.
A Janesville manufacturer once produced fuses for military explosives on site. The site has low-lying areas along the riverfront that are a federally-designated floodplain.
Paynter, a longtime volunteer on various parks friends groups and local trail coalitions, says he has not sought feedback from the city or any other committee members on the parks proposal. He says he wanted to spark a dialogue first by putting the idea on the public docket.
The resolution says the Ice Age Trail Alliance, the Rock Trail Coalition, and the Green-Rock Audubon all “stand ready to assist in the planning of this park.”
Fellow parks advisory panel member Steve Knox co-sponsored the resolution, according to an undated draft copy of the resolution obtained by Big Radio.
Paynter calls the new parks resolution similar to others he’s seen that have sought a declaration of city property as park space. Paynter says he does not have a suggested name for the proposed park — although he joked it could be named “Pelican Park,” because the area is a hot spot for migratory pelicans.
Although Bear backpedaled away from the Rockport road site after a year of planning, the developer has turned its attention to a new proposal to build 78 units of mixed-income housing in downtown Janesville — on a city-owned parking lot lot off the 10 block of North Parker Drive, next the Carriage Works building.
The Kenosha developer has run into some opposition on the North Parker Drive proposal — a subsidized housing plan that downtown property owners say they’re leery of.
The storefront owners and operators worry Bear’s North Parker project is a mismatch after private stakeholders have pumped millions of dollars into a downtown revival over the last decade. Those investments came under a city-led plan to revitalize the downtown riverfront and cultivate a niche retail and entertainment district with an economy based on discretionary consumer spending.
City of Janesville economic development officials have not said whether they’re still marketing the Rockport site for any other housing developments or other uses.
